Beautiful Girl

This coat and hat were made by Brian's great grandmother for his aunt, as I understand it.  We were thrilled to have her wear them. 

Food is Meant to be EXPERIENCED!

Miscellany 12.20.09

I have about a million pictures on my camera, so my next few posts are going to be pic intensive!  I have one (count it... ONE) deep thought in my head, but I'm not sure how to articulate it, so that will be coming sooner or later.

Tonight at dinner, I served twice baked potatoes.  As some of you know, my two eldest children don't consider potatoes edible unless they are of the french fried variety.  Nathan asked me in his most polite voice, "Mom, could you never, ever make this ever again?"

Brian is dog tired after working from 4am to noon Saturday and Sunday.  I am thrilled for the two coming four day weekends.

I'm pretty sure Nathan's quilt will be done for Christmas.  Yay!!  It's weird to have a project that I've spent a year working on, but Brenna is eager for me to start on hers.  It will be pink and pupple (yes, I meant to do that).

We have an ornament graveyard going on the kitchen counter.  And none of them were broken by the baby.

An old friend brought a great book store, Better World Books to my attention. They have a 5 for $15 bargain bin with free shipping, so I just scrolled through books until I found five that I knew I wanted for the kids.  Only a couple of them are appropriate right now, but I got Sarah, Plain and Tall.  It's a short little book, and I decided to read it because I remember not really caring for it as a kid.  It's heart wrenching.  The story is about a widower who advertises for a wife in the newspaper, and his two children, as they prepare to welcome Sarah into their lives.  The most important criterion?  That she sing, because there has been no music in their house since their mother died.  It's got me thinking about emotional maturity and when it's appropriate to introduce negative emotions in a safe way.  I can't remember when I read it... probably around third or fourth grade.

We have only one meal's worth of turkey left from Thanksgiving, and I've decided that next year I'M NOT MAKING A TURKEY.  Blasphemy, I know.  But I've never particularly liked turkey, and having several meals of it after the big day, on top of the work of making it in the first place... just not worth it.  Besides, Thanksgiving is about the carbs anyway, right?

Okay, I think that's it.  My brain is sort of empty for the moment.  If you made it this far, thank you!

One Year

I'm pretty sure this was yesterday:

 Happy Birthday, Isaac!

 

Who Says They Have the Best Food Here?

When we moved I had to give up my sourdough starter.  It was a sad day pouring that down the drain, but there was no way I could bring it.  So Brian and I have been on a mini-search (all inclusive of the stores we go to often!) to find some good sourdough.  A few weeks ago, Sam's club had ONE package of sourdough, which we brought home, made sandwiches with, then spilled water all over.  I almost cried. 

On Sunday, at our weekly trip to Sam's club, I decided to ask the bakery if they had any, since there wasn't any on the shelf.  A woman making an order kindly let me go in front of her to ask.  The answer was, of course, no, but as I turned to walk away, I heard the woman who was behind me ask, "what's that she's asking for?"  and I glanced over my shoulder to see the young lady at the counter, with a VERY dubious expression, gesture that it was a round loaf as she said, "you put filling or something in it".  And with a look of total distaste and a shrug, "some people like it".

Alrighty then.  A new starter is sitting on top of the refrigerator!

7 Quick Takes Friday - New Orleans Edition

I've wanted to do a New Orleans edition (I typed 'addition' twice) since we moved here, and finally I'm remembering before Saturday. Woohoo! Here goes:

1. First things, first, here is a map of the city.  We live in the Lower Garden District, which is at the bottom right of the crescent (circled, a little hard to see).  Brian works right now up in the Jefferson Parish (northwest of the crescent) while they prepare to start work on the levee, but the levee is actually in St. Tammany Parish (East of the crescent).  Click on the map to view it full size.

2. Neighborhoods in Brief  Here's a brief summary of each of the major neighborhoods.  A little bit of history and the boundaries.  I found it interesting.

3.  How Ta Tawk Rite  The street names here are a whole mix of languages, and this guide cracked me up.  I was so proud of myself when I was able to pronounce the names of the muses... but who knew, New Orleanians pronounce their names phonetically (for instance, Calliope.  Pronounced Cuh-lie-oh-pee, right?  Nope. Here it's cal-ee-ope.  It feels so wrong!)  Oh, and my favorite street name, we live a couple blocks from Tchoupitoulas.  That's Chop-it-too-las.

4. As soon as we moved here, we made a beeline for the Louisiana Children's Museum.  It's wonderful, but has the most horrendous parking.  Trying to park at this place has almost broken me a couple times!

5.  The place we're spending the most time exploring right now is The Audubon Zoo.  This is absolutely the most beautiful zoo I've seen, and we really loved the Columbia, SC zoo!  Today, when Isaac wakes up we're going to visit the Insectarium.  Nathan is SO excited!

The fountain in the zoo entrance

A huge grove of oaks in the center of the zoo

A little fairy descending from Monkey Hill

6. We're attending Calvary Baptist Church while we're here, and we really like it.  They have a great children's program, and this week I went to a women's Bible study that will be a lot of fun, I think.

7.  Tomorrow, we're going to spend the day at Shady Pond Tree Farm hanging out and picking out a Christmas tree.  The kids are very excited about the tree, and Brian and I are very excited about a (very cold) day spent outside exploring what looks like a beautiful farm!  I plan to take my camera and make the kids wear clothes that don't clash wildly in an effort to get some great Christmas pictures of them.  We'll see how that goes!

Our Yummy Thanksgiving Mess

Actually, that's not entirely true, since I knew I would need to be as efficient as possible in my tiny kitchen, I cleaned it from top to bottom before I started and kept it pretty clean along the way. I was quite proud of myself (and briefly considered why I don't do it that way all the time, but well, whatever).

I started cooking on Tuesday night, with the pie crust and first set of dinner rolls.

On Wednesday, I had a wonderful helper, who's only flaw is that she gets really mad when I won't let her help with something. Here she is helping me unearth the stock pot from that cabinet behind her for mashed potatoes. Can I just say, I probably should have realized that if I was using a stock pot for a party of eight, three of whom definitely weren't going to eat them, it was entirely TOO MUCH POTATOES! That's okay, I found an awesome recipe for mashed potato pancakes (which my children still won't eat).
Rolls getting started in my wonderful, awesome and amazing bread machine:


Thank you, Sam's Club, for potatoes on steroids. I have never, in my life, seen such gargantuan potatoes. And being the lover of potatoes that I am, I made about two thirds of the bag, ten pounds or so.
I tried a new stuffing recipe, and it was PHENOMENAL! This is going to be my stuffing recipe. The corn bread is another of my favorites, and was used Wednesday night with taco soup.


Were you wondering what the boys were up to while Brenna and I cooked? Brian was helping clean up, Nathan was playing with Legos, and Isaac was eating washable crayons, which foam when they get wet, by the way. I heard Brian yell, "Miranda, I need help! It's getting on me!" by which I'm pretty sure he actually meant our precious baby is eating something and I'm terribly worried about his welfare!
Just a side note, but see those really steep stairs behind Brian? I fell down them this morning. Which is why I'm now sitting here blogging, and not walking to the park with my family.

Here's the turkey. I got a big one, 15 pounds, I think, because I figured if I was going to spend the better part of a day cooking it, I wanted to be able to use if for a while. Mission accomplished! It was lovely, but too dry. Next year I'll try the bag thing like Linda told me I should...

And here is the meal. My moment of glory! And a little fear, because what if it was terrible? Oh, the green beans were. Terrible, I mean. Scrap that recipe. But everything else was wonderful. Yay!

I bought a puzzle for the evening because, well, I love puzzles, but also because Brian's aunt and uncle had one out a couple years ago at Thanksgiving and I loved how it gave people a chance to sort of exit the main conversations and have quiet conversations, but not actually feel out of the party. It turned out really well in this case; our three guests were people Brian works with who for whatever reason were staying in New Orleans. I have no idea if they know one another socially, but I had never met them before they rang my doorbell. So the puzzle gave us something to do with our hands and softened the inevitable breaks in the conversation. One young lady left pretty early in the evening, but the other had to be dragged away from the puzzle because her ride needed to get home :)
Oh, and those leaves on the wall behind the table? They were part of our school project a couple weeks ago, when we were talking about Fall. We've spent the time since we made them thinking of things we're thankful for and writing them on the leaves.

I know it's a little blurry, so if you're interested, here's the list:

Hannah and Claire
Get together
God takes care of us
Yummy breakfast
Our family
Isaac
Daddy
Clayton Community Church
We got to New Orleans safely
Our bedrooms
Our garden at home
Wonderful friends
Our new beds
Sophia
Mama
Brenna Mae
Daddy's job that helps provide for us
Toys
Jesus took away our sins
Nathan

Here are my favorite recipes that I used:

Sweet Dinner Rolls
I made a recipe of regular flour, and one of half whole wheat.

Stuffing
based on some of the comments, i added two granny smith apples, 1/2 cup walnuts and a handful of cranberries. And I used homemade cornbread instead of a mix.

Speaking of:
Cornbread
I love this recipe because it isn't crumbly. very moist and sweet.

Potato Pancakes

A Thanksgiving Thought by Bobbi Katz

The day I give thanks for having a nose

Is Thanksgiving Day, for do you suppose

That Thanksgiving dinner would taste as good

If you couldn't smell it? I don't think it would.

Could apple pies baking – turkey that's basting

Not be for smelling? Just be for tasting?

It's a cranberry-cinnamon-onion bouquet!

Be thankful for noses on Thanksgiving Day.

Two wonderful books that will be on my wishlist for next year:

How I am, Really.

I love New Orleans. This city is amazing, beautiful, full of architecture that is breathtaking. The first week after we arrived, when I drove through town to see the community that we would move into, my initial reaction was I will stay here, if I can. I want to be a part of this history, this vibrant community, this will to thrive in spite of horrendous odds. New Orleans has a spirit that you can feel; the people here love their city, and have fought for her.

That said, I am lonely. I am depleted. The end of every day finds me angry at my children for being childish, my husband for not meeting my every need, myself for my innumerable failures. I'm not sure that God wants to hear from me, or if he does, that he's willing to act on my behalf. Does he expect me to rely on him completely? What does that even look like? What does it look like to not have a friend made of skin with whom to converse?

Yes, we have found a church, a wonderful place with lots of children. I'm sure that we will make wonderful friendships there. But that is going to take time.

I have not found a homeschooling community. My hippy-ish ways are foreign here. If I go to a park during normal school hours, I'll have to explain the craziness that is having three children five and under at home by choice.

At the end of the night, when I'm free to leave, to find a place to grab some coffee and walk around, I don't know where to go. One of the beauties, but also the drawbacks, of a true city is the lack of chain establishments that offer familiarity in unfamiliar places (except the Walmart, and that is just wrong… on so many levels). And I haven't found myself desperate or brave enough yet to just drive away in the dark and explore by myself.

So I'm taking it day by day. Trying to find the balance between relying on God to meet my needs, but acknowledging that I am only human and I am made for relationship. I need a friend.

God will meet me here, of this I am sure. He has met me far from home before. But in the meantime, I am trudging through a valley, admittedly, a beautiful valley, alone.

Nathan's First Love Letter

I have so many pictures of Hannah and Nathan, but of course they're all at the house in Concord. Oh well, I guess I'll save them for their wedding day....

My Current Desktop Picture

A Big Day for Nathan

Nathan has wanted a library card for quite some time. The rule at our library in Concord was that he had to be able to write his name on the back. Well, guess what:

Teeth! And Our New Home.

That guy is so cute. Unless no one is paying attention to him, then he looks like this:Yes, his face really gets that red when he's mad. Poor kid.

In other news, here are some pictures of our house. It's in what's called an "urban renewal" community. From what I understand, the builders took an old, run-down neighborhood, bulldozed it, then built a new community in it's place, keeping with the architectural style and street layout of the area.

The house is fine, nothing special inside, and COMPLETELY LACKING IN SHELVES! I mean, ANY shelves. So be forewarned, the following pictures are messy, because I can't figure out where to put anything with NO SHELVES.

And also, no artwork with very large walls. I'm working on that.

There are two bedrooms upstairs and one downstairs, which we're using as a playroom.

So, that's that. We're just trying to get back into a routine, fill up the refrigerator, find a place to put toys. I think we'll enjoy it here.

New Orleans, Here We, Ummm… Came?

We’re here! Okay, that was stating the obvious… but I figured I left all three of you who cared hanging with my face book status, so here’s the rest of the story:

Wednesday night before we left, some amazing friends came and helped us mostly finish packing. Thank you, Jesus, for amazing friends! We looked at what was left after we sent them home (because we were both brain dead and couldn’t make any more decisions) and figured we had about two hours work or so left in the morning. Can you say STUPID?

Thursday morning, departure day, arrived with a realization that we still had lots to do. LOTS. And three small children with no toys, books or movies because everything was packed already. So we ran around all morning trying to wrap things up. As we finished up, I put the kids in the car with a movie while we swept and crammed things in the garage.

Guess what happens when kids are in the car watching a movie for, well, longer than you expected? And no, not that. They were strapped in to their seats. I’m not THAT stupid! THE BATTERY GOES DEAD. That’s what happens. I think my husband owed his mental cuss jar some money. I hid.

Well, I guess we have more time! Not really the plan. But okay, we’re flexible. Brian started the car charger, took care of more weird guy tasks like checking tire pressure and such, and I chatted with my neighbor, Sara, whom we’d already said goodbye to twice. We put the kids back in the car, and Brian asked me to watch him pull out to make sure everything was good with the hitch.

Everything was NOT good with the hitch. Prepare for lots of fancy technical terms here: we bought this fancy new double bike hitch thingy that basically makes it possible to put the bike hitch with all the bikes behind the vehicle, then the cargo trailer behind that. So we’re about 80 feet long. Anyhoo, Brian started to pull out, and because of the extra weight, the hitch scraped. Badly. And got stuck.

I may have to take a loan out from the mental cuss jar.

After some inspection, Brian decided there was nothing for it but to just reverse and… unscrape? He needed to change the hitch. Which is connected to the fancy new double bike hitch thingy and the trailer.

Just a note: the kids were really awesome, and out playing with Sara’s kids, since THEY WERE HOME FROM SCHOOL ALREADY.

So, the hitch. This is the part Brian’s mom should NOT READ. Or my mom, either. Doing everything properly would mean unloading the bikes and taking everything apart, and well, we were already late. So Brian pulled the pin on the hitch and just drove out of it, switched it out, then had me back up to reattach it.

Can I just say that I was waiting for a scream of pain that would tell me I had just cut off all my beloved’s fingers?

So after much yelling back and forth of “back up TWO INCHES!” and “This is a freaking Suburban! It doesn’t only go TWO INCHES!” we successfully reattached the bikes and trailer, said goodbye to Sara again, and were off. Whoo! Yeah, it felt really long at the time, too!

I Want One! (totally squealed in a mature voice... not the one I keep telling my children we don't use!)

My friend Rachel wrote a post about Amber Teething Necklaces on her blog over at Euphoria Maternity. I've never heard of them before, but the idea sounds really neat. I'm writing this in order to enter a contest to win one, and also to ask if you've ever heard of such a thing.

I like the idea of healing and soothing properties. It's fascinating to me that for thousands of years people have had alternative ways of dealing with many of the same issues and discomforts we have now. I wonder if they sleep trained their kids, 'cause I could sure use some advice there!

I wonder how my boy's daddy will feel about him wearing a necklace if we win? And also, will he drool more or less? 'Cause we have a perpetual puddle around here!

So, have you ever heard of/seen a teething necklace?

You Have Got to Read This!

So I follow a blog called BooMama, and this week she posted about holy letter closings. If my kids were not sleeping in the bed next to me, I would have been giggling hysterically. If you write letters, you have got to read this!

Needing Some Closure

Three

Happy Birthday, Brenna Mae!

Five

Nathan turned five today. Wow.

Kindergarten!

Nathan and I started homeschooling on Tuesday. What a big boy! I totally meant to take pictures, but... well, one can only do so much!

So we worked on the letter N, patterns, and we're studying Jonah for the week. We're also working on building healthy morning habits like brushing teeth (mommy fail, there) and making beds.

He's enjoying himself, as am I, but I'm EXHAUSTED!

I'm sure I'll update you on our progress.... sooner or later!

A Very Important First

French Braids!

Just a note:
This girl loves to have her hair played with, and those of you who know me well can imagine my joy! However, this was the first time I attempted to make her sit still long enough to do braids. She rocked.

Yay!! Our Harvest!

Here is some of what is coming out of our garden right now. Unfortunately, the melons and cucumbers are not doing well in pots, so we don't have nearly as much of them as we did last year. But the colors! They make me happy!

Oh Good.

Nathan: When we start schooling, I'm going to be even more patient than usual.

Cough, Cough, Gag

This is our new chalkboard! I'm just thrilled with it. It was a nice, easy project that only took a couple days, and that only because I had to wait for the calendar layers to dry. I came across the pattern when i googled "chalkboard paint" on Martha Stewart's site. I plan to write something pithy or wise at the top. I'll let you know how that goes ;)

Please note the pink dust on the floor. Awesome.

Now if I can just stop gagging on the chalk dust...

7 Quick Takes Friday

I'm participating in 7 Quick Takes Friday over at Conversion Diary today. I read this blog regularly, and love Jennifer's thoughtful faith.

Isaac is STILL TEETHING! Please, God, let these teeth come through soon, so that we can all sleep!

*

I realized this week (and then when asked, I actually had to say it aloud) that I am totally inconsistent in disciplining Brenna. We are smack in the thick of the "MINE!" phase, and I have no idea how to handle it.

A friend is letting me borrow Don't Make Me Count to Three by Ginger Plowman, and I'm hoping that I can apply some wisdom about using scripture to discipline.

*

We start homeschooling in a few weeks and I AM PANICKING! What if I'm a terrible teacher? What if my child never learns to read? What if he hates me for keeping him at home? But I've had several women (both homeschoolers and non) encourage me, and I am so grateful for it!

*

I painted a wall in my kitchen with chalkboard paint this week, and it is SO FUN! I'll post a picture of it in a day or two, when I put the finishing touches on it. But we started using it yesterday, and the kids love it. I have, however, a very sore throat from gagging on all the chalk dust.

*

This week was Brian's birthday, and the kids and I got him the game Mancala. It's very simple and I love it! I remember playing it on a camping trip with my godmother when I was a kid. It's still fun! And easy to play with little ones, if you can get two year old girls to leave the pretty rocks in the game.

*

Brian's parents have given us their (practically new) old dishwasher, so we're trying to figure out what needs to be changed in our vintage kitchen in order to fit it in. The conversation keeps going something like this:

Brian: We'll take out this cabinet, put the dishwasher here, and we only need to buy one small cabinet to fill the gap and new countertops.

Me: Okay, one small cabinet, new countertops, the cheap ones from Lowe's. Got it.

Brian: But if we want to move the stove over, we'll need a cabinet over here and a space filler. So we should probably take out this weird wall, I can do that, then we can change out this lower cabinet to a lazy susan cabinet. It'll be much more usable.

Me: Ummm, okay. But if we take out the wall, put in a new cabinet, then all the rest of the cabinets have to go too, right? Because they won't be the same depth.

(vintage kitchens have shallow cabinets, this is why we're having this whole conversation... the dishwasher doesn't fit)

Brian: Yeah. So do you still want to move the sink? We could do that now.

Me: But we have to buy a new sink, right? Because that one won't fit over there.

Brian: Yeah (he's deep in thought, mentally putting everything where it ought to be).

Me: So we're replacing ALL the cabinets and the sink?

Brian: (Still deep in thought) Yeah.

Me: Um, no. Our budget for this project is zero dollars and twelve cents. One cabinet, new countertops, the cheap ones from Lowe's. THAT'S IT!

*

Have to go... we're late for gymnastics!

A Study in Human Behavior

I think the grocery store is funny. People are so accustomed to just doing their thing, they aren't nearly as guarded as in other places. This only pertains to my post because I was thinking about all the random stuff that has happened in the grocery store.

Tonight I was studying the array of kleenex and toilet paper when two ladies stopped their cart next to me and walked away a few feet to study some other array of goods. Hanging off the back of the cart was a little girl, obviously four years old (they just have this look). So the moment her mom and grandmother's backs are turned, this young lady starts grabbing stuff out of the cart and hiding it among the shelves.

I kind of watched her out of the corner of my eye; she had that twinkle. She was playing a joke! It was clear by the way she watched them that she thought they would come back and ask her where the groceries had gone, and she would lead them on a hunt. Woo hoo!

Because I was a dorky kid with the same sense of humor, I knew this was going to backfire on her. As is to be expected, the ladies came back, grabbed the cart, and walked off. I turned and looked at her face as she realized they didn't miss the groceries!

I didn't want to get her in trouble, but that would be a frustrating thing to find out later, so I called out to the woman pushing the cart (the grandma... although I didn't know that until later) and whispered, "your little girl hid your groceries."

"What?"

She looked at me like I was speaking another language.

"Your little girl took your groceries out of your cart and hid them. She thinks she's being funny."

"Oh. Okay..." More bafflement.

I walked away thinking she thinks I'm insane. Oh well, I had to tell her!

I finished my shopping and got in line. When the ladies were looking for a line to get into, the one I spoke to came and said thank you. She still looked a little confused, and she explained that it was her grandaughter. I think she had no idea what to make of such mischief. As she walked away, I just laughed. I have one of my own; they are weird little creatures!

Miscellany

Brenna called me into her room with, "Mama, I need to tell you something."

I sat on her bed and asked, "yes, Brenna?"

"ummmm...." Guess she forgot what it was.

"Do you need to tell me something?"

"ummmm...." Come on, come up with something!

"What do you need to tell me, Brenna?"

"ummmm.... I don't want monsters to get in my bed."

Well, she got me there. I definitely wasn't expecting that! But she said it with a totally straight face, so I reassured her, "Brenna, no monsters are going to get in your bed."

"Okay!" Glad we got that cleared up.

*

Isaac is fascinated by his hands lately. He just watches his fingers move with the most rapt expression. It's really neat to watch.

*

For my birthday, I really wanted to try a restaurant that doesn't serve American food. We are totally stuck in a rut! So we walked downtown and turned in circles for a good 20 minutes looking at all the options. I was determined not to go to one of our standby's, but we were ridiculously nervous about trying something new! Well, Brian has had Thai food at work and thought it was pretty good, so we opted for the Thai place. It was AWESOME!

We had a crushed pineapple dish that was served in half a pineapple and a basil chicken dish, then deep fried bananas and ice cream for dessert. We will definitely be going back, but feel pretty silly for being so scared. However, the kids were pretty unimpressed with the lack of crayons and colorful menus with pictures of their choices (we like the klassy places). I had to remind Nathan that we were here FOR MY BIRTHDAY. I GET TO PICK ON MY BIRTHDAY. But he enjoyed the food, so I think going back will be a cinch.

*

Nathan tells a joke:

"Knock, knock!"

"Who's there?"

"Nathan!"

"Nathan who?"

"Stewart!"

A comedian he's not.

*

So I've been thinking about our homeschooling schedule in the fall, and I've decided to make a time for board games or puzzles. Besides the one-on-one time for Nathan, I think there are a lot of great things to be learned from games, i.e. following rules, taking turns, counting, focusing, etc.

What are some good games for little kids? (we have candyland, memory and chutes and ladders)

Big Mouth!

Brian took the kids shopping for my birthday present yesterday. He walked in the door with warnings about it being A SURPRISE and DON'T TELL! Both kids came to me to tell me they had a surprise for my birthday and they CAN'T TELL ME WHAT IT IS!

It frustrates Brian to no end that he can never keep a secret from me. I almost always know what he gets me because I'm psychic (he thinks). Mostly I can just read my husband like a book, so if I ask a question the answer is obvious.

So the kids were great. They didn't tell even though they're excited.

Last night as I was cooking dinner, Brenna wandered in to check out what I was doing, beg for food, and inspect the kitchen magnets.

As she's studying our refrigerator, she just asks what's on her mind: "Mama, what's a m-p-tee payerd?"

I was still giggling when Brian walked in the door a few minutes later. Foiled AGAIN!

Now I Don't Have a Lid For My Casserole Dish.

We have mice! So far the only things they've eaten are the tops of a tupperware container and my casserole dish. Can you even replace those? This is SO Brian's job to deal with. I'm sure it's in the husband contract.

Have you had to deal with mice? What worked best?

How Do You Solve a Problem Like Nathan?

A couple days ago I was trying to teach Nathan and Brenna the Do-Re-Mi song from The Sound of Music. They loved it and kept asking me to sing it over and over, so yesterday I decided to check the movie out from the library (alas, my copy is on VHS). We spent yesterday afternoon and this morning watching it, and they LOVED it! Woohoo! Maybe I am related to those two monkeys!

While I was cleaning up in the kitchen I heard Nathan walking around singing How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria? That made me laugh because when we watched it, I was totally changing it to his name in my head!

Watching it required a few explanations, like why some women want to marry God and thus can't marry men, and a very simplified (obviously) explanation of Nazis. So now I am prepared to be absolutely mortified when he calls someone a Nazi during play. Please, please, please, God, don't let it be with the children of my close friend from Germany! Because then, I will just have to die. Right there.

So musicals are a success! I think maybe the next couple movies I buy will be Mary Poppins and another old musical where no one gets called an idiot or some other name I don't want him to learn. Much better to stick with Nazis.

True Love Died

We took Communion at church today. I remember as a kid thinking that I wished the ceremony meant something to me. I sort of understood it, always took part in it, but it didn't resonate with me. Like, I totally get that Jesus died for me. That sucks. Moving on.

Sometime in the last few years, though, I GOT IT. God watched his son die. For ME. Jesus went through THAT. For ME. He was betrayed and abandoned by the people on earth he loved most. He experienced separation, sin. For ME.

Oh.

I don't deserve it. I wouldn't choose for him to do that. I would never ask that of anyone, much less of the creator of the universe. As the depth of his pain and my unworthiness became clear, it broke my heart.

I fought it. I completely, utterly disagree with the choice God made. I am not worth THAT. He shouldn't have done it. I wouldn't do it, never, ever. And yet, he chose to. It was his choice to die. Really, he didn't have to, he could have let us all go. But he chose to die.

So now, during commuinion, I find myself trying to rest in being loved. He gave me a gift I don't understand, don't deserve. I am so grateful.

Six Months Old

Crazy

Sorry I haven't blogged in a while. I feel like a lot has been added to my plate in the last few weeks, and I'm trying to figure out how it's all going to fit. I'll be back soon, though!

Brenna's Love, Part Two

"Mama, me wub you up to Heben.

Me wub my bed up to Heben, too."

It Totally Works... In Theory

I think I've solved my laundry dilemma. The everlasting mountain of laundry will be gone!

So here's my idea:

Each person in the family will get a color. Like red for Nathan, because he looks great in red. He will get five of the exact same red shirt, a pair of jeans and a pair of khakis. AND THAT'S IT (well, he can have red underwear and socks too, because I'm generous like that)!

I already do laundry everyday, the problem is that the quantity overwhelms me. So this way, I can easily sort a small amount of clothing, get it hung up, and voila! Laundry's done. No need for socks in every color for Brenna, because she only wears pink! Five pairs of pink socks, and they are all hers! If she gets food all over, no problem, because we'll just change her shirt to another just like it!

This is awesome. I'm a genius. I'll even let them pick a new color every year or as they grow out of the old stuff, whichever comes first.

I guess they'll also need one set of dress up clothes... and a couple sets of jammies... and swim suits... crap. Wait, their old shirts can become the jammies! Yes! Another problem solved!

Seriously, this is what I think about while I face my own personal Mt. Everest.

Why a Boy Needs a Daddy

Yesterday Nathan had judo class. This was his third time, and he did not want to go. The first time, he had fun. He has a friend in the class and he just joined right in, running laps with the other kids.

The second class didn't go so well. We were running late, so we were stressed and got there amidst a crush of bigger kids. Then the teacher was new. Apparently the teacher from the first week is actually the tae kwon do teacher. Nathan refused to join in, so I had him sit on the side and watch and told him he could join at any time. He chose not to.

So this week the tears started as soon as I told him to put his gi (his uniform) on. We talked about it, about being scared, about getting used to something new. We talked about how cool it will be to wrestle Uncle Walt, because he's taking judo too! And the tears continued. He didn't want to go.

I explained my dilemna: the first week we asked him if he was sure he wanted to take this class and he enthusiastically said yes, so we bought the uniform. I think he'll have so much fun learning how to wrestle. It's important to follow through. But he really, really didn't want to go.

We prayed about it. I asked God for wisdom. He's only four. He's scared. I don't know what the right thing to do is.

Then Daddy came home. He was going to take Nathan to class. I pulled him aside and explained the situation, my doubts, Nathan's tears.

And in a way that always amazes me, Brian gently laid down the law. He told Nathan that he has to go four times, then he can decide. He didn't give him a choice. Then he promised ice cream for a good attitude. Then he made him laugh.

Nathan was still scared. He still cried a bit. But his friend in class came and took his hand, and they took off running together. After dinner, we made him a big sundae with a brownie. He dropped the ice cream on the floor then stuck his toe in it. Good Times. And when I asked, Nathan said he had a great time, he definitely wants to go back.

We'll see if Daddy needs to be there for next week too.

Really, It's the Piano that's Faulty.

On the way home from our camping trip we listened to some instrumental piano music that I've enjoyed for a long time. I think my mom and I got the CD when I was about 12 years old.

Nathan was asking me about the songs and what they meant. He sat back and listened for awhile, then asked,

"Mom? How come our piano and Nana and Papa's piano don't sound like this?"

"Well, because this man knows how to play the piano."

Brenna's Love

"I wub you up to Heben."

Translation: I love you up to Heaven.

Melts my heart!

A few weeks ago Brenna told me she loved me up to the sky and I responded that I loved her up to the moon. She told me with a very disappointed face that, "the moon is down". I had no idea what she meant or why my response was so upsetting to her until I relayed our conversation to Brian later. He told me that the night before they had talked about how the moon comes up at night and goes down during the day. It was the wrong time to be loved up to the moon.

Well, now I know.

They Say You Never Forget How to Ride a Bike

They lied.
Brian went to the emergency room today to have his elbow stitched up. Fun stuff.